All language subtitles for Wagner_1983 Part 3

We are to take an historic trip
on the lake of Lucerne.

We wi�� see the p�ace where Switzer�and
was founded 600 years ago,

of that you can be sure,
under the Seelisberg.

It is to be set up as historic, by subscription.

� sha�� take specia� care
to point it out to you.

Do you see the Rigi yet?

A mountain, you may see it, yes?

But for the moment, look back
at the historic community of Lucerne.

Do you see it? Lucerne?

Do you all have tickets?

Do you all know the legends of Switzerland?

Wou�d you �ike me to te�� you
the legend of Arnold von Winkelried,

a very famous Swiss soldier

who truly did something very brave?

He truly did. Do you know the story?

In 1286, a long time ago,

he threw himse�f
on the long lances of the Austrians.

Do we have any Austrians on the boat?

I'm sorry, he died.

But we won.

And there is Tribschen,

where the famous German composer

Herr Richard Wagner is living with his friend

the Baronin von Bulow and her children.

Madame Hans is a daughter

of the famous Hungarian composer
and virtuoso Franz Liszt.

Hans von Bu�ow is Kapellmeister
to the court of Bavaria.

Ludwig Il of Bavaria

is patron to Herr Wagner,

for whom Herr Wagner wrote all his operas,

which include Tristan and Isolde,

which some wou�d consider
to be quite shocking.

Was.

I beg your pardon?

Was the Kapellmeister.

Our King sent him packing.

I presume you talk of Bulow?

I hear he resigned for ill health.

That's right,

packing.

Herr Wagner is quite simp�y
the greatest living artist that Germany,

indeed the world, possesses.

That's right, he is,

and he's very �oud,
so loud he cannot be heard.

His music, it b�ows your head off
so no one can hear it.

And he wears c�othes that women wear,
for which, and other things,

Ludwig sent Herr "Loud and Si�ky" Wagner
packing, too.

With a�� his friends, packing, a�� of them.
Let the Swiss have them.

Your Majesty, Frau von Bulow.

I cannot believe that we have not met.

Gracious, Majesty,
in our hearts we have.

Your husband can stay with me.

� need him with me so that � sha��
never lose sight of our work.

Frau von Bu�ow is very he�pfu� to me,
is unselfish.

She has left her husband for a few days,

has brought her chi�dren here
to live with me in exile.

Is my muse, my secretary,

in which role she excels.

She does, she does. Of that I'm sure.

Now, Meistersinger.

How near, how near? Wonderful.

I've all the time in the world.

I have come to live with you, work with you.

R egard me as your copyist.
Set me to, Master, set me to.

It is very near. Would you like to hear?

Newspapers. Newspapers.

This.

Sit down, my dear fellow, sit down.

An official denial has been given to that lie.

U nfortunately, it is the truth.

� have an officia� report here confirming
that the King left Schlossberg

with Prince Pau�
early on the morning of the 22nd.

Yes, and was seen boarding a train.
Incognito.

Incognito!

A beard.

He was in Lucerne by the morning

with Herr Wagner.

Will he come back, do you think?

Parliament cannot open without him.

The question of the mobi�isation of our army
against the Prussian threat

cannot be debated.

How can His Majesty be so headstrong?

He is expected to p�ace himse�f
at the head of his troops.

U nder an umbrella?

U nder what? Was it raining?

Will he come back?

We will know if he does.

What?

Come back.

I shall be the first to know.

I have men on every road, every station.

Do they know what he looks like?

Oh, yes.

We'll know.

Excellent.

Dear one,

if it is your wish and will,

I gladly renounce my throne,

its empty splendour.

I shall come to you, be with you,

forever.

No, you must bear all.

All.

For the good of your people.

Well,

so much for Meistersinger.

But how goes the great enterprise?

How goes my Ring,

our greatest adventure?

Well, well.

When?

When?

Would Your Majesty hear some?

Please.

How long does His Majesty

intend to stay?

Forever.

No, no. We must get him back.

Prince Paul explains that

the King has fled Munich.

They are waiting for his command to

mobilise the army.

Prussia wi�� attack
before we can get our army

in the field.

He talks of living here.

Exalted one!

If His Majesty did come to live with us,

how would he live?

Live?

Money?

Money.

Some lands, but not a great deal.

Enough?

For the needs of His Majesty, yes.

But for his p�ans in regard to Herr Wagner,
certainly not enough.

Then he cannot abdicate.

No, for the sake of Bavaria, he must not.

Quite.

If he abdicates, who will reign?

Who?

His brother, Prince Otto,

I imagine.

Otto?

Didn't he throw himself on some altar,

raving, stark, bo��ock-dang�ing naked,
and raving?

Bavarians are true Germans.

The peop�e of Bavaria
unite the versatility of Franconia

with the imagination of Swabia
and the native strength of Bavaria.

I see in Bavaria, under your enlightened rule,

a release of the ideal of the German spirit.

I love no woman,

no parents,

no brother, no people,

no one fervent�y,
and from the depths of my heart,

as I love you.

I will never return to Munich.

How can � govern
if we are forced to remain apart?

You,

our work,

give me everything.

Majesty, if you...

Friend, the friend,

if you wi�� not �isten to the argument
that you are the leader of your people,

their on�y hope in the face
of the chaos of democracy,

as well as the

ignorant might of Prussia

and the thick-sku��ed persuasion
of Bismarck,

if you will not,

then �et me try to persuade you
with the argument that

without you,

there would have been no Tristan,

there will be no Meistersinger, no Siegfried,

no Ring of the Nibelungen,

Parsifal.

A�� the work that � do, have done,
with you, will do.

Is all this to be wasted?

Lead your people, be a King.

Dismiss the twittering Nibe�ungs,
Pfistermeister, Pfordten, Phee, Phi...

Only a King can realise our plans

on the magnificent scale we envisage.

A German King.

Yes.

I?

I...

Yes, only I.

Paul, fetch me my helmet and my sword.

I thank God.

How dare you?

Herr von Bulow, is it not the truth?

- �t certain�y is not.
- So sure?

What was said about my wife
is more to the point.

�t's a scanda�ous attack
on my very name and honour.

Yes, yes, your wife.

It says

that Wagner is in Lucerne.

Does it?

That your wife, the carrier pigeon,
Baronin von Bulow,

daughter to Liszt, is with Wagner,

where they were recent�y visited
by a certain exalted person.

Here it says,

"...the musician Wagner,
her friend or what?"

- "Or what?"
- An apology, sir. An apology.

Do you wish me to say
what everyone knows?

When she got away with 40,000 gu�den
for her 'friend'?

My seconds will call on you, sir.

Herr von Bulow!

You are a Prussian, are you not?

Then � wou�d advise you to �eave the country
rather than fight duels.

What do you suggest,
glissandos at 20 paces?

No. No, Herr Wandwaver.

There wi�� soon be enough fighting going on
bloodily between Bavarians and Prussians

on the field of glory, sir, the field of glory.

�f you wi�� not be�ieve me
with regard to the honour of my wife,

perhaps you will believe your King.

We'll be ready to go again soon, sir.

Ready to go in again, sir.

Well done, sir. Well done.

We tried to do you proud, sir.

God bless you, sir.

Well done, sir.

- �'m ready. �'m ready, sir.
- All are loyal to you, sir.

God bless Your Majesty.

Hans.

Ah, yes. I am very impressed with Bismarck.

Poor King.

Do you think, because of the war,
he will abdicate, do you think?

This is shocking.

�s Bismarck the man
to lead Germany to greatness?

This is shocking.

� ca��ed on the editor
and demanded an apology.

Thank you.

Something must be done.

Yes, the King, my friend, must be asked
to write you a letter, Bulow,

in which he states that you are vita��y
important to the artistic life of Munich,

and that he is shocked
by the scurrilous treatment

accorded to you and your b�ame�ess wife
in the newspapers.

How will that do?

Which �etter being received,
you may publish it for all to see.

The King's �etter giving the �ie
to all this filth and innuendo.

Some of Meistersinger.

Will the King do such a thing?

If I ask him to, yes.

Look at this.

But it is not lies.

I need the King and I need Bulow.

Listen to him, he has on�y seen that piece
for the last hour or so,

and already he has it on the piano.

It could be a difficult letter to write.

No, no.

Is it the honourable thing to do?

It is necessary.

Bulow works himself to death for me.

He shou�d not have to face such ridicu�e
in the newspapers.

�s it not dishonest?
The truth is, I am your mistress.

� have given birth to your chi�dren.
I am. I am.

Everybody knows this.

The King does not.

No.

Nothing matters but you,
that which is in you.

You are the cause we serve, all of us.

Thank you. You're right.

There are those of us,
artists and strong men in other ways,

who must, for our own ease,

so that we may do that which we have to do
with conviction and strength,

must be unwavering�y supported,
never questioned,

set above a�� other persons,
given everything.

All is clear if one understands that.

There is nothing dishonest
or dishonourable about it.

What shall you write?

I will...

I'll think about it.

Bismarck, what?

Poor Ludwig,
soundly trounced by the Prussians.

I always said it would come through Prussia.

�f the Prussian King had accepted
the crown of emperor

and leadership of Germany as a whole,

we wou�d not have needed
to fight him in Dresden.

What, Bulow?

Bulow.

You're not �ooking we��.
You look exhausted.

�s Meistersinger
going to be too much for you?

Is there somebody who can help you?

I'll get somebody.

I've written it.

What have you said?

You may wish to read it
and you may wish to add to it.

No, no. Read it to us.

"Royal Lord, I have children,

"and it is my duty to hand down to them
their father's honourable name unstained."

Yes.

"For the sake of them, these children,

"that they may never
cast aspersions on my love,

"which love you share for our friend..."

Let me read it.

Bulow, free me.

You are free.

Divorce?

As soon as the King knows,

he must know one day,
promise me my freedom.

Oh, no.

Our religion? And your father.

Hans.

For Wagner.

You love him as I do.

He wants a son.

You must help him

to have a son he can own as his.

For my father, �'�� go to R ome, �'�� ta�k to him,
I'll renounce my religion.

You must not,

I beg of you.

Consider it deeply.

Please.

The friendship of Wagner and Liszt
is a great one,

which must last.

See here what I have appended.

"She is the faithful wife to Hans von Bulow,

"the father of her children."

"My Royal Lord, my friend.

"For the first and last time,
I implore you to act for us.

"I fall on my knees before my King,
and in humility and distress,

"beg for the letter to my husband that
we may not leave in shame and ignominy

"the country in which we have desired,

"perhaps, dare I say,
have done nothing but good."

Summoned?

- Why?
- I fear I shall be dismissed.

- We are to be b�amed?
- We advised the war against Prussia.

- Did you?
- Did you not?

Look at Lutz, our war minister.

Leapt from his horse,
banged his head against a door.

"My dear exalted friend,

"if you make this public statement,
then all is well.

"You who came into our lives
like a divine apparition,

"oh, do not consent that we,
the innocent, shall be hunted out.

"Your royal word alone can restore
our honour, which has been attacked."

Good. Very good.

Very, very good. That should do it.

Have you read that disgraceful letter

the Wagners have published?

From the King?

The King is rea��y an innocent.
I'm just beginning to realise it.

He enquired of me,
"What is done when rape is done?"

the other day.

Innocent.

My dear Bulow.

The sound of cowbells.

Cowbells.

My dear Bulow.

Cowbells. Cowbells?

Your Majesty, if you allow...

What do you say
now that I have stilled the malicious lies

about Wagner and the Baronin von Bulow?

What do you say after this triumph?

What do you say to the return of Wagner

to Munich?

Why not?

Why not?

I consider Richard Wagner

the most evil man under the sun.

A man who wou�d ruin your young Majesty
in body and soul

and turn your subjects
so strongly against you

that you would be unable to rule.

�'m to�d Schopenhauer has a great inf�uence
over Herr Wagner.

I'm not surprised.

I'm told Schopenhauer

denies the state any moral function,

any function at all,

except that of the protection
of the lives and property

of such as

Herr Wagner.

� wou�d wish to serve Your Majesty
until death.

�'�� on�y do so if � am permitted to make
the moral judgement

that such as Wagner

are not seen to enjoy Your Majesty's love,

on pain of Your Majesty losing your throne.

How, Frau von Bu�ow,
do you imagine I'm going to do

without Herr von Bulow in Munich?

Please do not shout at me.

You have driven him from me.

You are jea�ous of my �ove for him.
Is that it?

�f you �oved him, you wou�d have seen
that he is very, very tired.

- He needs rest.
- From me?

He's worked at your side for all these years.

�f you saw him now,
you would think he had one year to live.

He is longing for The Ring. He longs for it.

He must leave Munich if he wishes to.

You must go and persuade him.

Persuade him to stay on as Kapellmeister,
to do the work of Wagner in Munich.

� sha�� not see him again
until he divorces me.

� don't care about divorce.
It is nothing to do with divorce.

It is to do with work, woman, work.

Don't you understand
the importance of that?

How can you say that to me?

Eva, Eva, Eva.

What am I to do without him, Frau Bulow?

Have you given thought
to using Hans Richter?

Yes. We can send for him. Yes.

Thank you, Herr Wagner. You may now move.

Come on, Loldi. Let's go find Bonnie.

Oh, no. See if it's the fe��ow
I knew in Leipzig.

Herr Nietzsche?

Herr Nietzsche?

You knew Herr Wagner in Leipzig?

I did, indeed.

Yes, Baronin.

He is.

Ask Herr Nietzsche to stay to supper.

I cannot bring myself to consume meat.

Then you deny yourself strength.

- How?
- You're a carnivore. You need meat.

No, I tell you the truth.

�'ve sworn an oath
that I will only eat vegetables.

Rabbit.

No. It's important on moral grounds.

Arrogant rabbit.

Cosi, have you ever met
an arrogant rabbit? Here he is.

Have you met a professor of phi�o�ogy
who is an arrogant rabbit?

Frau von Bu�ow may not have,
but I have, many of them.

You need good nourishment in this c�imate.
You need good red meat.

We are here, you and �, to provide
a means of escape from the futility of life.

You regard life as futile?

Of course. You know that.

Schopenhauer.

Eat not other people,

nor muti�ate them,
for that is the great wrong.

It denies them their individuality.

Therefore eat animals

and produce a temporary respite

from the futi�ity of �ife
and the slavery of the will,

for which you will need your strength.

I do, though I cannot do it on milk.

Siegfried could not forge his sword on milk.

No.

And Richter here

could not work as he does

without the food we give him.

I'm feeding him up

to stamp on the heads of the Nibelungs.

Go forth, Hans Richter, into Munich,

and slay the Schweinehunde with Rheingold.

He likes pig meat, as well.

Don't you, Richter?

After Tristan and Isolde in Leipzig,

the overture, remember?
I heard it for the first time.

I wanted not food nor drink.

Experience.

Yes, Schopenhauer.

But the physical strength we acquire

when we train our bodies

he�ps to harden ourse�ves against
anything else they might fling at us.

What does he say, against unhappiness?

Danger?

Loss?

Injustice?

Let me read to you from my student days
at Leipzig. I write my life.

Frau von Bulow is dictated to

whenever Rheingold and Siegfried
leave me time.

A few pages of it might amuse you.

Would you care to hear?

Here's a piece.

"I managed to find time in those days

"to finish quite a substantia� amount
of composition."

Richter, this will amuse you.

"How I went about it.

"Different co�oured inks to bring out
the mystic meaning in the orchestra,

"b�ack ink for the brass,
red ink for the strings, green for the wind.

"But I was not able to get red or green ink."

The maiden theme of the overture
was contained in four bars,

but after every fourth bar I'd added a fifth

which had nothing to do
with the melody at all,

which � expected to be announced
by a bang on the kettledrum.

You see?

See?

The fatal kettledrum beat,

bruta��y hammered out,
deprived me of my senses.

And then the audience began to count,

"One, two, three, bang!

"One, two, three, bang!
One, two, three, bang!"

Bang! One, two, three, bang!

Herr Wagner, Herr Wagner.

You have a son.

Siegfried.

Victory. In peace.

Well, you.

This child held high,

shown the world,

shown to the world.

This child,

Siegfried,

at last born,

for Germany,

a German sword,

a leader of stout, German, Aryan stock,

a sword in his eyes.

He will be the beginning of a new age,

will carry the flame and the sword

and the light, through struggle.

Nothing without struggle.

Attack and defence.

Suffering and struggle, victory and defeat,

domination and servitude,

all sealed with blood,

will lead us on the quest
that is Wagner's quest.

To help us all cross the sacred river

will show us that it is our quest as well.

The quest for the Grail

and for truth.

What truth?

What truth?

What truth?

What truth?

Siegfried.

Now our real child is born.

Baby.

Sweet baby.

Lovely child.

Our child.

We were, I was very much afraid,

going to find ourselves at war again.

Bismarck of Prussia

to fight France.

He was set on it.

France equally determined to fight Bismarck.

It was only a question of when.

And because Bavaria had lost
her last war against Prussia,

as we did,

we were all going to have

to fight alongside Bismarck,

and like it.

I didn't.

Ludwig didn't like it.

But an excuse was to be found

to bring about

one Germany

at last.

All the states under one Kaiser,

and under Prussia, of course.

Wagner's hopes for a united,
strong Germany realised.

The events which had, to some extent,
started in Dresden were at last

to come to fruition for Wagner.

Through war.

Wotan rides.

But first, Lohengrin had to be persuaded,

though he had little choice, little choice.

What you must do...

The designs are not what � wish,
but that can be put right.

What is important is that we control

the entire production without interference.

Now that Pfordten has been dismissed,
we must seize our chance.

And you, young master Richter,

you must be in a position
of complete power,

able to grab them by their pizzles

and twist some sense into them.

You obey my instructions to the letter.

Now, the character Loge.

Yes, you must te�� Sch�osser...
Is it Schlosser who is to portray him?

You must te�� him
that he is to avoid being comic.

�t cou�d so easi�y become comic.
This won't do.

His hair must be flames, red flames.

So, at last, it begins.

Wonderful. They look wonderful.

Where is everybody?

Switzer�and.
Everybody is in Switzerland, Majesty.

Mama!

Tune those B-flat horns.

F's, F's. Tune the F's.

Can't you read the notes?

There are few enough of them,
for God's sake.

Louder, louder. I can't hear.

That's better. Sing it, sing it. Breathe.
Four bars.

Not two bars. Four.

Longer phrases.

Stop, stop, stop.

�t's terrib�e. You have to take it
in four-bar phrases.

Breathe in.

No tonguing in the middle. No...

Let's try it again, and this time
come with my beat, rather than yours.

Softer, horns. Softer.

Just breathe. Just breathe.

That's good, that's good, that's good.
Sweet, sweet.

Yes, but in four bars, ce��os.
Not two bars. Four bars.

That's it!

Keep up with me. You're getting slower.

No. Stop, stop, stop, stop. Terrible. Terrible.

Well?

It is as well we are employed.

Gloves and white neck-cloth cost money.

What do you intend?

While you are still my wife, it's quite simple.

I see you.

� want to be ab�e to see you.
Always.

� do not wish to see you ever again,
until after we are divorced.

Wagner seduces everyone.

You, me. Our children next.

Bulow, that is evil. That is shocking.

You owe everything to him, as I do.

- � have no...
- You owe everything to Wagner.

I have no small ability myself.

- You �ove him?
- I do.

I do.

You are given the opportunity
to be the finest,

the greatest exponent of Wagner.

I am.

Or, at least, I have been.

� ask you because
Wagner will never ask you himself.

No, of course he won't.

I shall not divorce you.

Rheingold cannot be ready.

- The King insists.
- Never mind the King.

Never mind the King?

You forget yourself, young man.

If we do not mind the King,

we are in danger
of not minding anything any more,

for we will be elsewhere than in Munich.

His Majesty expects the world premiere

of this opera, Rheingold, tomorrow.

- You, sir...
- I will not...

� am tired of being harangued
by an absent composer.

His Majesty wi�� expect to see
a performance on such and such a day,

whatever day that happens to be.

September the 5th. I obey only Wagner.

The money that has been poured
into this undertaking.

Singers trave��ing over 200 mi�es
to exercise their tonsils.

And not only this.

What kind of an opera is this?

Herr Minister.

This is the kind of opera
that makes young women seasick.

The stage is f�ooded with water,
there is no interval,

giants, a dwarf, an impossible rainbow.

But most of all, the kind of opera it is,

nobody's given a chance to sing properly.

I resign!

Herr Richter!

You are suspended.

� sha�� see Rheingold
on the 5th of September.

It belongs to me.

I have paid for it.

Wagner is being impudent.

I want to see Rheingold.

I have waited too long.

He sends me a te�egram saying
that it must be postponed.

� have every right,
in view of the fact that I own the whole work,

to see it when I wish to see it.

Majesty, your command.

However,

I have been forced to suspend Richter.

He was insufferable.

Find someone else!

They've tried Lassen in Weimar,

Herbeck in Vienna, Levi in Karlsruhe

and Saint-Saens in Paris.

Bulow?

Yes. None of them accepted.

Possibly the chorus master, Herr Wullner.

Te�� him to take his fi�thy hands
off my score!

Let him conduct g�ee c�ubs,
or one of Perfall's operas, but not mine.

No chorus master wi�� conduct
anything of mine.

Who is he, this chorus master, some Jew?

Many times passed over? What?

� wi�� ho�d a fu�� piano rehearsa�
with scenery, lighting... Ah!

He who is to portray Wotan!

Thank God you are come, Richard.

They call me a spy because I write to you,

you, the genius who has done so much.

No, no... No.

Herr Wagner, you are not permitted
to enter the theatre, sir.

Wait here. I shall speak to the King.

Sir. The King is not in Munich.

My dear Hans,

I learn from Richter

that now you have submitted
your resignation

from the court theatre in Munich,

intend to leave Germany,

and that you wish me to give my views
about the fate of our children

and the disposal of our property?

If you are leaving Munich

because you feel incapable any longer

of enduring the intrigues
and unpleasantness

by which you are surrounded
and overwhelmed,

permit me to say you are wrong.

Your character is well-known.

There's nobody who does not respect you,

and everything which causes
an indignant outcry

will be directed against me.

In the first place, I am a woman,

who is expected to uphold the moral order.

In the second place, I am a mother,

and I appear to be sacrificing
my own children.

And in the third place,

you are a man of honour
whom I married of my own free will.

Whatever my good intentions,
I've never made you happy.

I do not believe that you can

scoff at these feelings.

And it is in their name

that I ask you

whether you have the strength

to separate from me officially,

to allow me to bring up our children

and to remain in contact with me.

Of course, the world and your family
are within their rights

in advising you not to leave
the bringing up of our children to me,

for they claim the right to see me simply

as a woman who has broken
her sacred vows

to indulge

her passion.

We��, he can rave about Rheingold,
how good it was.

Of course it wasn't. How could it be?

How could it be?

As for Valkyrie, well, we'll see.

But he won't have Siegfried
because I haven't finished Siegfried.

Have I? Have I, Fidi?

It will remain very carefully... unfinished

until I get my own theatre

in which to perform the whole of The Ring

in the way I think it should be performed.

You shou�d go to Munich to see
what they've done with Rheingold.

No. Did you see it?

No, � refused to go,
out of respect for your feelings.

Perhaps you should.

No, I will never go to Munich again.

The King wou�d not see me.
The theatre was closed to me. Never again.

Ludwig owns me, owns me and my works,

but I shall never condone his action

by going to see my work travestied.

That is good news.

Ah, Judith... the light in your eyes.

Look at Fidi. His eyes.

Somebody said of him
that he has a sword in his eyes.

The French. Look at them. The Jew, Mendes.

Famous critic, likes my work. Must be mad.

Brought his friend Vi��iers,
another mad Frenchman.

As for his wife, daughter of Gautier,
another critic, look at her.

How wou�d you �ike to go bird's-nesting
in that girl's garden?

I shall.

Richard, what are you doing?

Climbing, climbing.

You French must do something
to expiate your crimes.

Crimes?

The crimes of France. Nietzsche?

Nobody wi�� deny that France
has given the world a great deal.

�s it crimina� for France
to defend herself, Monsieur?

Yes, Monsieur Villiers,

it is a great crime to resist the civi�ising
influence of the German peoples.

Whatever the arguments
between France and Bismarck

over who shou�d be p�aced
on the throne of Spain, or wherever,

the rea�ity is that there is a strugg�e
between the French and the Germans

over who should lead Europe.

A war will solve the problem.

And � hope it wi�� a�so �ead
to a united Germany at last.

� be�ieve that this is
the first intention of Bismarck.

And in this nob�e aim,
France has a part to play.

You must be defeated, and soundly.

And indeed you will be,

for the French character,
in comparison with the German,

is appallingly narrow,

fi��ed with fa�se poetry, fa�se �ogic,
misplaced eloquence.

You have forgotten how to be Frenchmen,

a once noble race akin to the German race.

Brothers,

searchers of the Grail.

You have become Parisians,

kept women.

Streetwalkers,

whores.

Paris.

Femme entretenue of the world.

Paris.

I see I have shocked you.

We confess that
when we knew you were coming

we thought it might be
unpleasant to have you,

even though you are friends,

because of the behaviour of your country
in declaring war.

But � determined to try
and help you understand,

sit you down, feed you,

dash some cold water on you,

in the hope that some French, at least,

will come to their senses.

What does the Herr Professor say on that?

I'm frightened.

No. No.

I'm frightened that we might not win.

Very frightened.

But it is on�y through a new united Germany
that I can see any hope for the world.

We must

break our inte��ectua� subservience
to France,

break it once and for a��.
We must win.

� regret � have become a Swiss citizen.
I cannot fight, myself.

Would I could rejoin my regiment.

But you were wounded the last time.

� sustained a chest injury
while mounting my horse.

But I have made enquiries,

and the on�y way � can invo�ve myse�f
is by way of the ambulance service.

This I shall do.

How noble.

How I wish I could do the same.

Oh, no, Cosima. That would never do.

You'd be shot as a spy.

She has the regrettab�e habit
of crying out in her sleep

in French.

Might � remind you
of something you said some years ago?

You said something to the effect

that in longing for German grandeur,

the German can usually dream of nothing

other than a kind of revival

of the Holy Roman Empire.

Such an idea,

filling even the most good-natured German

with an unmistakable appetite for mastery,

and a craving for supremacy
over other people.

Good night, Herr Wagner, Frau von Bulow.

Typical Frenchman.

Gentlemen, is there any more to be said?

No, Majesty.

No.

Hohen�ohe, is there no way
of avoiding war with France?

No. I've been to Berlin.

The King of Prussia and Bismarck
are determined on it.

I fear so.

This time with France.

Yes.

At least this time there's a good chance

of being on the winning side.

Is there?

The ordinary people of Bavaria

wou�d rather have a century of France
than a year of Prussia.

Our treaty,
which brought about the end of our

disagreements with Prussia,

means that we are expected
to fight with Prussia.

However, �'m trying very hard
to actually avoid doing so.

I shall do it in French.

J'ordonne la mobilisation...

There's a French body over here!

The little professor is gone to war.

- Who?
- Nietzsche. Gone to war.

I should go. I should volunteer.

No, you're an artist.

The duty of military service

rests with the ordinary persons,

especially those that are German,

indeed, also those who are not.

The Jews, certainly,

a race that accepts all from Germany
but rarely contributes.

All Jews would profit
from service in the German army.

They would thus gain a German attitude
and be the better for it.

Are the Jews not Germans?

No, Loldi, no, they're not.
They are the Nibelungen.

Nibelungen.

I shall suggest that Bismarck
brings back the beating of women

just as soon as he's beaten the French.

What?

With words. My words.

Is there going to be anything
coming from this frightful misery?

Do I want greatness to come from this?

Must I not only bear this,

but love it?

Wagner, are you not, perhaps,
looking at things too simply?

No, of course you're not.

I write to you this.

For the first time, I feel it.

The strongest and noblest will to life

does not reside
in our puny struggle to exist,

but in the will to power.

Yes.

The will to power.

So, I shall write and say in my diary

for Thursday, August the 25th, 1870...

How shall I put it?

This day at 8:00, we were married.

Richard Wagner and I.

May I be worthy of bearing that name.

A very ordinary German name.

But simply the most

glorious German name.

Bismarck has done it.

What a christening present for Fidi.

The local newspaper prints pictures
of French soldiers.

And from them all,

the wretchedness and degeneracy
of the people stare out at me.

In those bestial, besotted faces,

one sees complete idiocy.

Soon be Christmas, the winter upon us.

Richard will want to perform
as the great German hero, Santa Claus.

Yesterday, Richard read to me
from his biography.

And the shameless conduct
of his wife Minna towards him

made me shudder.

When we returned from our walk,
we found an Italian in the courtyard.

His countenance moved me to pity.

The whole eclipse of a nation

was reflected in it like a dream.

This race is likeable,

but I doubt whether it is still capable
of active deeds.

Garibaldi is an old fool.

There, that is what I shall write.

About this day, plainly and dully,
I will tell you what happened.

As I awoke, my ear

caught a sound

which swelled

ever fuller and fuller.

No longer could I imagine myself
to be dreaming.

Music was sounding.

And what music!

When it died away,

Richard came in with the five children

and presented me with the score

of the Symphonic Birthday Greeting.

"Now let me die," I exclaimed to Richard.

He replied,

"It would be easier to die for me

"than to live for me."

For you. Happy birthday.

A symphonic birthday greeting.

Bismarck?

The hero of the future.

And what will he do, this hero?

R ise up booted and spurred
over the bodies of his neighbours?

Perhaps phi�osophers
are out of place in war.

Philosophers!

They p�unged us into the dark ages,
the shits,

made us specu�ate on existence
instead of getting on existing,

taking the only path apart from immolation

that cou�d possib�y a��eviate
the suffering of existence.

I refer, of course, to art.

Do you see the Greeks, after their go�den
revels, ever having very sore heads?

�t's we who've had the sore heads,
2,000 years of sore heads.

Brought about by philosophers.

And � inc�ude among them
the hedge-priests and God chaunters

and brisket beaters
who taught us to despise ourselves,

made se�f-disgust
the highest virtue given to man.

Kicked our pride in the arse
and left us nothing.

Came between our pure, primitive
and artistic yearnings

and our hearts.

Produced half-men.

We shall make man whole again

through art.

Do you tell that to your students?

Then money must be found!

This castle will be built! I command it!

Your Majesty, it's other matters
I would wish to press.

Don't talk to me about other matters!

They are important.

There comes a time when messages
cannot be passed from groom to King.

Groom? This is not a groom.
This is my friend.

I had another friend, a great friend.

They drove him away.

I hear he has other friends now.

Other friends!

He makes approaches to the Kaiser.

He is suggesting a festiva� to be dedicated
to the peaceful conclusion of the war,

and asked for a subsidy from the Kaiser,
suggesting a new theatre,

his theatre, in which to stage the festival.

His theatre?
It will be our theatre, ours together.

� am his King and his friend,
the only person who understands him.

Go away!

Go away!

� can't ho�d the book,
my fingers are freezing.

"Let no one believe that the German spirit

"has forever lost its mystical home

"when it can still understand so plainly

"the voices of the birds
that tell of that home."

Listen, Nietzsche, listen.

I don't need to, Wagner. I wrote it.

You wrote it for me.

What are you, Wagner?

Listen.

"Some day it wi�� find itse�f awake
in all the morning freshness

"destroy vicious dwarfs
wake Brunnhilde

"and even Wotan's spear
will not stop its course."

I wrote that before the war.

But it is even more true now, and inspiring.

Is it?

Is it?

Is it?

Any theatre wi�� do, what?
Now, which is the biggest theatre?

Which opera house
has the biggest stage in Germany?

Heavens! How would I know?

Come on. We'll find out.

Cosima?

What is it?

Cosima. Look at this.

My Christmas present to you.

A manuscript.

�t's to be pub�ished.
Please, give me your views.

�t is wonderfu�.
It is everything we believe to be true.

Are you fully recovered?

I think so.

It was a glorious thing you did.

It must have been such a privilege.

To see a rea� German army take the fie�d,
how it must have inspired you!

� don't think discip�ine in war,
courage in battle,

the actions of heroes and leaders,

unity, obedience, duty,

has anything to do with culture.

Do you not?

Cosima, which opera house
has the largest stage in Germany?

I'm not sure.

Bayreuth has the deepest stage.

Bayreuth? I seem to remember...

Now, where is it? �'ve been there.
Come, you're a soldier. You...

- Me?
- Yes, where is it?

Bayreuth. Franconia?

- Franconia, yes.
- Here.

Berlin here.

A small town, Protestant.

Yes, Berlin.

With Pfistermeister replaced by Lutz,

who knows what that will bring?

Yes, Bayreuth,
halfway between Berlin and Munich.

Ha�fway between Bismarck
and the King.

Ideal.

Wonderful.

Rococo. It won't do.

Can you see The Ring, with
all its primeval splendour, being done here?

- This is a Mozart house.
- I fear so.

You will go elsewhere?

No, no, no, my dear fellow.

You don't get rid of us as easi�y as that.
Does he?

Oh, no, Bayreuth has been decided on.

May I, on behalf of the whole...

Madame Wagner...

May I, Madame Wagner,

may I, on behalf of the whole...

We��, we wi�� just have to bui�d
something of our own.

We can't build anywhere else, not now.

My wife has decided on it.
This house has failed us.

� sha�� not burn it down.
I shall simply tower over it.

Herr Wagner. The peop�e of Germany
have always loved you.

May I, on behalf of the...

Because I write pretty tunes?

No. Because you have he�ped us
find our destiny.

May I, on behalf of the whole...

This is where the King comes...
Where he stays when he comes to Bayreuth.

When does he come to Bayreuth?

Well, not just yet, but should he come.

Herr Wagner, may I, on behalf of the whole...

- We��, he wi�� now.
- Yes.

We're looking for a house.

We're �ooking for a hi��
on which to build the theatre.

We can't find a house.

- Must it be on a hi��?
- Of course.

We'll have to build a house.

When we've built the theatre.

While we're building the theatre.

Subscribers. I can conduct everywhere.

I can always make money conducting.

What we need is 1,000 subscribers
at 1,000 marks each.

Then we won't need the King. He can
go on building his castles and his follies.

Yes, we��, there is a hi��,
just outside the town, with nothing on it.

Herr Wagner, may I, on behalf of the whole...

"And so,

"on this auspicious day,

"to be remembered
until the ends of recorded time,

"on this glorious occasion

"amid so many loyal friends,

"and with the blessing of your mayor,

"I chose Bayreuth

"because it has no rea� standing theatre
of its own.

"Though Berlin wished me to build there,

"Baden-Baden offered me a site,

"in Bavaria, in the centre of Germany,

"near enough, and part of the kingdom
of my beloved patron, King Ludwig Il,

"who has...

"who has..."

...sent us this message, his seal,
his own words,

delivered to me,
to be placed within the foundation stone.

What did I say to him, my friend?

From the depths of my soul,

I sent him my

warmest

and sincerest congratulations

on this day

that is so significant for all Germany.

He is building. So am I.

Which of us will show the truth?

Which of our creations will be the greater?

Come and live with me

in my world,

our world,

which I have created for you.

"Be blessed, my stone.
Long may you stand and hold firm."

That is what I wrote to him.

Long may all my stones stand.

Do you hear them, the stones,

singing of the glories of the past
that was Germany?

Gone, long ago, but living in my stones.

"Let our blessing and good fortune
attend our great undertaking."

Seal it in your stone, my friend.

- At �ast!
- What?

At last, this, coming together.

What?

Well, it will come together. It has.

Yes, I'm convinced, after all the work.

Money.

What? Oh, yes.

There isn't any.
There just isn't enough to build a theatre.

We must have money to put something on.

There wi�� be one performance,
only one, that's all.

And you, what are you doing?

- What?
- You, you, all of you?

Well, the Wagner Societies are very busy...

Wagner Societies.
They're not getting the money. Not enough.

And do you know, some of them have
the damned cheek to demand expenses?

Even so. This is something.

- What?
- This.

"'We are come looking for singers,'"

said Wagner,

to every opera house in Germany,
or so it seems.

The length and the breadth of the country
they travelled,

their ears assaulted
by the most appalling noises,

their imaginations never engaged
beyond the initial bars,

hearing music dragged or rushed.

At every fresh place they hoped,

hoped to find just one actor, one singer,

not too far gone down the path of vulgarity

to be of use.

And all for his wonderful new theatre

at Bayreuth.

Herr Wagner! Water!

I see that.

Struck water.

� intend to fi�� my house
with water and fire, anyway.

We all did our best
to help set up Wagner Societies

devoted to the raising of money
for Bayreuth.

Every German city had one.

In Dresden, we had two.

Banquets were given

and the money trickled in slowly.

I should like to propose a toast
to all those, including the King,

who subscribe
to the building of our theatre,

your theatre,

and all those other dilettantes
who have formed Wagner Societies

throughout the world, including America.

In England,
we went to Windsor to see the Queen.

A small woman, Richard said,
and not very pretty.

She stated
that she had heard of Herr Wagner

and wished him every success
with his fundraising.

Windsor, so dark and damp,
and such hideous pictures.

Some 20 concerts were planned in London
at the Royal Albert Hall.

But in the event, only eight were given,
and the concerts themselves were dreadful.

The Queen asked
how we found the music in England?

Richard found it difficult not to answer
that he was still looking for it.

Perhaps the theory is all.

What?

- � said...
- I know what you said.

I don't theorise, Professor.

You're not a musician.

No. No.

Do you write to the King?

� am coming to think that � know
this world less and less.

� do be�ieve that for a�� their banquets
and compliments,

� am sound�y hated
by the whole of Germany.

Does the King answer your letters?

What? What are you doing here? You?

I came to see you. Wanted to see this.

Piano compositions.

Yes. I hope you feel you can...

Piano compositions.

You write piano pieces.
Look. Look. Look at this. Look.

� hoped you wou�d find
my piano composition had some merit.

Bayreuth. Everything must relate to Bayreuth

and what we are trying to do here.
Piano pieces do not.

And what was that piece by Brahms
left on the piano?

You insu�t me with Brahms.
Jews, Jews, Jews!

They write vi�eness about me.
They must be attacked.

You must a�� attack them, a�� my friends,
all those who are faithful to me.

There are proofs to be read,
articles to be written, work to be done.

Nietzsche. What do you do? Piano pieces!

I need no messages in my stones.

I speak, I sing, I create my own poetry here.

This is how it was.

This is where the Meistersingers sang,
our Meistersingers.

Ours! I am the Swan Knight.

Born to be another Wartburg.

Good, good.

Thank you.

�'m thinking of changing the tit�e.
What do you say?

Say?

Twilight of the Gods is all right

if you know what 'twilight' means

in this context.

But if the meaning isn't clear,

then the title is hardly precise enough.

Judgement of the Gods might be better.
What?

R ocks, rocks! Anyone can paint rocks.
You don't have to squint at it.

For goodness' sake, hurry up.

Soft. Soft.

This is the Rhine, not a steam engine.

Softer, gentlemen. Softer, please.

Terrible!

Long phrases. No breaths.

Softer, horns! Softer!

Three, Figure Three!

Keep up with me. You're getting slower.

God knows where we are.

Are there still holes in the ceiling?

- � can't see, � can't see.
- The building supervisor

is doing what he can, but heavens!
There is worse than that.

There is no hope of fitting
all the musicians into that orchestra pit.

None.

Tune that top E flat. That's right, tune it.

Herr Richter,

my violin strings have broken again.

It's too hot down here.

Yesterday the violin itself cracked.

Well, then, get it repaired.

�t's a�most impossib�e
to find anyone to repair a violin.

It will have to go to Munich.

Yes, yes. This town!

Everything costs twice as much as it did.
Everything.

And this pit!
It's like the engine room of a ship.

Young master R ichter, are you ready
to get off your arse and do some work?

Yes, Master.

Morning, boys. Morning.

Only 702 subscriptions?

I have done my best.

Yes, Herr Feustal, yes, you have.

5,200 marks.
Enough to keep us running for two days.

No, � can't get up enough steam
for the bridge to work the rainbow.

Why?

The simp�e fact is, Herr Wagner,
that we can't afford it.

I am told to save on vapours.

- They are considered expensive.
- Never mind, never mind.

We must do something
about the glare from the orchestra pit

during the Pre�ude to Rheingold.
The effect is being entirely ruined.

Apparently, your musicians need to see.

What? To p�ay an E f�at and a B f�at?
Two notes? Mad, mad.

Well, it worked in Munich.

Did it?

We had one or two difficu�ties.
Had to change the base.

The problem is the singers.

Not exactly sylph-like, are they?

Then I'll try it.

Frau Wagner, was it not agreed
there should be no free seats,

not even for rehearsals?

Yes, of course. The Master wrote
to every patron and every friend

exp�aining that there was not to be
any free seats, ever.

The entire Bayreuth Fire Brigade! Every man!

Admitted by Herr Wagner, gratis, free.

I give up.

For you and the children.

Master.

- What now, Brandt?
- An instrument to replace the orchestra.

R ichter! R ichter, come and see this!
It may mean the end of the world.

�f The Ring coincides
with Germany's victories...

Something...

I am not staying.

You must.

Cosima, he is not staying. He leaves us.

Why will you not?

� have admired you both,
devoted my thoughts to you both, but...

Not me. It is none of it me.

I am sick. Of that there's no doubt.

I have the most dreadful headaches.

I really must take a cure somewhere.

All these people, Wagner!

All these Germans who flock to Bayreuth!

The Clubs, the Societies, decked in ribbons,

b�owing trumpets,
slashing at each other with sabres,

spouting their anti-Semitic rubbish.

You.

You have the nerve to write
that Christ was not a Jew, do you not?

Do you care?

To imagine you cou�d herd
all the Jews into a theatre of your choosing

and then burn it to the ground.

As if that would solve the world problem.

Whatever you think the world problem is.

Not to mention a cellar full of silk, in boxes.

A house fit for a King, paid for by a King.

Children who treat you like a god,

your tomb bui�t a�ready,
waiting to receive your body.

That picture.

The Holy Family.

Claptrap! Mumbo-jumbo and claptrap!

Not you, your music
will still rise above the posturing,

but this is all play-acting.

You're a sma��-time theatre manager
who by some strange trick of fate

has been given the biggest, brightest,
most glittering, over-decorated barn

to ca�� a theatre ever seen,
and it is all to you! Opera is all!

There's nothing e�se of va�ue to you.
The whole of Germany must flock to you.

�n your estimation,
they have fought their wars

simply so that you might tug on a curtain

and shout, "See the face of art,
as according to Wagner."

And what we sometimes ca�� the A�mighty,
those of us who should know better.

The cross, the Grail, the search!

"Suicide, the purest form of birth." Claptrap!

Silk-clad dances of glee

at the raree-show you have persuaded

a poor, deranged, roya� romantic
to buy all the tickets for

and pay for the tambourines
into the bargain.

I have things to do.

I have hopes and aims beyond Bayreuth.

You have come into your own.

You know what it is the peop�e want,
your so-called German people.

You know what this age, brought about
by war and the yearnings for power,

is in the market for.

You throw it all together.

Music, war,

death, ecstasy, torment,

bangs and crashes,
floods and conflagrations,

exquisite neuroses,

obsessions.

Sensua� and profane
hand-in-hand with vulgar,

coarse twitchings of sexual fantasy.

And potent,

real grandeur.

Dangerous, e�evating
and plunging and convincing stirrings

in such a soup
will feed criminals as well as genius.

You're dangerous.

You're a dangerous man, Wagner.

You ta�k of gods,
but you know there is no god but Wagner.

Yet you have the power to convince fools

they might become gods.

Not you, not you.

Know that I know you,

at last.

That which you create,

I would not want to answer for its effect

on a nation sniffing at power.

Well, tomorrow.

Majesty.

You came,

you came.

At last.

From here you can see it.

Yes.

It has taken five years, more.

We laid the foundation stone in May of 1872.

It poured with rain, I told you.

Last week, the rain was
still coming through the roof.

All I've ever wanted.

Our dream.

Real.

Your house?

Built.

The money you sent,
and for the theatre, most kind.

Everything

ready.

U ntil the last minute, the very last minute,

it was near�y impossib�e
to show you anything.

We are �etting you see it first in private,
as you wished.

� hope the resonances won't be too much
for you. It will be very loud.

After Your Majesty has seen
his own performance,

we wi�� have the ga�a opening
and let the Kaiser in with all the others.

Thirty years ago, that... That...
Sent his soldiers to Dresden to crush us.

That Prince who is now a Kaiser.

That dragon.

Absurd!

Photographs. Photographs.

Herr Wagner.

Majesty.

How future generations will envy us.

Those of us who have had
the incomparable happiness

of being with you

now at this moment.

Long after we both have ceased to be,

our work will remain.

You, Majesty,

my co-creator.

You.

It has become difficult.

It has become impossible.

Parsifal, yes.

Parsifal.

You had the nerve to suggest
that Levi was baptised.

What?

Levi, the rabbi's son,

the conductor of Parsifal.

What about him?

Baptised?

About time.

No, no, no.

You wanted him baptised
before he could conduct Parsifal.

He was very upset.
He should have understood.

The things. The things...

- � conducted the �ast performance myse�f.
- Yes,

so you said.

There's always Bayreuth.

It still totters

from day to day, from month to month.

Still no money.

The Ring performed in '76.
Complete financial disaster.

You know,
we had to sell everything to pay for it.

Lighting, machinery, costumes.

Then Parsifal, the last,

the last.

We��, they �iked that.
And it was good, very good.

And the money ro��ed in and � thought,
"At last, some rest."

But no, always dries up.

Always.

Concertising a�� over Europe
just to try and keep a roof on the building.

Bayreuth is in danger
of never opening again.

Money.

� even thought of giving up
and going to America.

Do you want me to play it for you?

What?

Very well, if you don't wish me to...

Do you remember Siena?

In Siena, that's where...

Siena, the cathedral.

That Russian, Joukowsky,

the painter.

I stole that from you, Liszt!

What? What bit?

That bit.

Then there was that Miss Pringle.

English girl. A flower maiden.

Well, at least she was,

until you...

Miss Carrie Pringle.

Do you want me to play it for you?

What?

God has been my strength.

Cosi worried about vulgarity,

that such a work as Parsifa�
should not be sullied by vulgarity.

She tells everyone now
that we wanted no applause.

I wanted applause.

I have always wanted applause.

I was thunderstruck when we did not get it.

Thunderstruck.

He should have been baptised.

Levi.

You should have been baptised.

I finished with Bismarck

when he actually gave German Jews

equal citizenship with the rest of us.

I had three Jews working on Parsifal.

All hard workers.

Gifted, even.

Levi led me a dance.

We still are friends.
He has not abandoned me.

The desertion of friends.

The list is so long.

Cornelius. Ritter.

He was a booby, but he could still be useful,
still do something.

Took Joukowsky there.

Took him to Ravello in the south.
Magic garden.

Have you seen it? Have I shown it to you?

Joukowsky knew what I wanted, what?

I have shown everyone so much,

given people such inspiration.

Whoever accuses me of insincerity
must answer for it to God,

but whoever accuses me
of arrogance is a fool.

Tausig.

Do you remember Tausig? In Vienna?

My surety.

Surety!

Now, there's a Jew who was tormented
by his origins, tormented to death.

Minna.

Dead.

Nietzsche came to see me in Sorrento.

I thought him still worth talking to.

Told him of Parsifa�, the great Christian
legend, expounded on it for him.

All friendship dead there,

too bound up in his wretched headaches
and vomits, blind as a bat.

I wrote to his physician
to tell him to curb his masturbating.

Nietzsche masturbates, you know.

I told him to persuade his patient
to stop masturbating, eat vegetables

and take cold-water plunges.

They're all gone,

all my so-called friends
who would support me to the ends of life.

Minna.

Ludwig.

I consider it's a beginning.

Parsifal, a success!

It will be done everywhere.

Parsifal wi�� never be done anywhere
but in Bayreuth.

It must be kept for Bayreuth.

Bayreuth.

A madman's whim.

And the weather!

Do you want me to play it for you?

What?

Your father, the old humbug.

- Humbug?
- Yes, humbug.

The �ife he has �ed
and now he fancies himself a priest.

The o�d �echer.
Wants to play me his latest Ave Maria.

Get rid of him! I can't stand him any more.

P�ease. Wasn't it you who said
he inaugurated the new age?

Yes, in fingering.

Ludwig must go.

Ludwig must go.

That bitch is here.

Bitch?

That English flower maiden.

Pringle.

Says she can't �ive without you.
Beseeches you.

Hypocrite.

Lecher.

English flower maiden?

Oh, Min...

My watch...

Three years later,

King Ludwig walked into the lake, arms up,

drowning,

seeking redemption,

died.

Cosima held the dead body of Wagner

for 25 hours, so I'm told,

but herself lived on for another 47 years,

while the theatre, the temple,

on a hill outside Bayreuth,

like that other hill

outside that other city

so long ago.

A temporary structure, still temporary,

still there.

And Wagner?

Well...